Hurricane Ian - Choosing to Survive!

The morning after Hurricane Ian, with no power or internet, we ventured out in hopes of finding some hot food. I was able to get service in town to call my mom to let her know I was ok. She shared that a family friend, Joni, wasn’t able to evacuate from Ft. Myers Beach and that Joni called my Aunt the night before to say goodbye; that she wasn’t going to make it, the water was above her chest in her mobile home (mind you her mobile home is 6ft off the ground).

My heart sank as Joni is my Aunt Jan’s bestie, and I turned to Fred and said we have to go find her. He was apprehensive and reminded me we only have the gas we have in tank of the car, and we don’t know what conditions are in Ft. Myers Beach, and we don’t want to get stuck up there, etc. etc. My eyes filled with tears and I told him, we have to at least try.

Off we went for the 45min drive, all the traffic lights were out and too many were hanging down to the height of the car window. We made it to the mobile home park and encountered a huge downed tree, so we parked the car and went on foot. Fred was trying to prepare me for the probability of not finding her alive. We walked for maybe 1.5 to 2 miles, had to climb over two other large downed trees – in flip flops of course cause we didn’t plan on any of this. There was a terrible smell as we were getting closer to her street and Fred reiterated his concerns of what we will find. He didn’t need to; it’s all that was running thru my mind. Turns out the putrid smell was dead fish mixed with the suns unforgiving rays.

The blessing is we found her!

Very rattled, but alive. She’s 84. She said the water came on so fast, coming up through the floor of the trailer, and in from the closed windows. Strong waves with white caps took over her place. She said there were a lot of fish, and her fridge and furniture were floating aimlessly. She struggled to climb up on the counter but eventually made it up there with two small dogs and two cats and stayed there the rest of the night. Lots of mud and dead fish were in her house when we found her. Lots of bruises on her legs and a cut near her ankle.

Her first words to me were, “I don’t know what to do,” head rested in her hands, her clothes covered in mud. I said, there’s nothing to do for the next day or two but to rest and let your nervous system calm down some. As she began to tear up, I said come with us and we will figure it out.

We took her and the two dogs and made our way back out, getting her over the huge downed trees, eventually to the car and down to our house in Naples.

There’s so much damage/devastation. Not having internet, I hadn’t known how bad it was.

She has nothing left, literally just the muddied clothes on her back.

I heard her tell Fred, as the water was rising around her, she looked for something to take her life with because the thought of drowning was too terrifying.

There are hundreds of thousands of people in need right now, and countless still missing.

They all need to rebuild their lives like Joni, so many lost everything just like her.

I invite my community to share your thoughts and prayers on this post for her to read, and if you feel called to contribute, no matter how large or how small, contribute not because you pity her circumstances but rather to honor her will to survive and live. Honor her not just for choosing life, but for fighting for it in the face of fear.

*Hurricane Ian completely destroyed Joni's mobile home and car. Joni had lived in the mobile home for more than twenty years. She will now start to create a new normal in new surroundings because everyone in the mobile home park has now been displaced. Any contributions will go towards basic needs, clothing, toiletries, medications, etc. and in the event she is blessed further by this gofundme, the money will go towards securing housing.